The Insomniac Enhanced Concert series returned to LA with Steve Angello's infamous Size Matters party at the Hollywood Palladium on Saturday, May 12th. Angello, who is one-third of Swedish House Mafia and the boss man at Size Records, owns one of the most respected electronic music labels in the industry. With numerous chart-topping releases and a killer roster, Size Records proved that size really does matter when it comes to a raging party.
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In honor of Agello's first time bringing his internationally known Size Matters event to the Palladium, Talenthouse and the rest of the Size Records family invited DJs to submit a 10-minute mix of their best DJ set for the chance to be selected as the opening act alongside Junior Sanchez, AN21 & Max Vangeli and Angello himself. The winners, OC's very own Daniel Minaya and Shane Vikus, of Minaya & Vikus, were announced on Thursday, a few days before the show. Minaya & Vikus are the resident DJs of Giant Thursdays at the Yost in Santa Ana and Avalon in Hollywood on Saturdays.
The duo won with a submission that was voted by fans and then handpicked by Angello. The four tracks they picked were the exact opposite of the same popular tracks you hear every club DJ play and this was reflected in their one-hour opening set at the Palladium. Playing a good mix of tech house and progressive house songs they got the party started in what is probably the biggest gig in their DJ career.
Junior Sanchez and AN21 & Max Vangeli each took the stage for 90 minutes afterward as the Palladium filled up with EDM lovers ready to rage and get their dance on. The DJs played while giant LED signs with their name were displayed on the DJ booth and lasers adorned the high ceilings. Girls were on top of guys' shoulders early on as Sanchez kept the dance party going with tracks like “Generation 303” by Nicky Romero and Alexander Technique's “All For You.” AN21 & Max Vangeli premiered a couple new tracks including their newest collaboration with Angello,”H8rs,” which had the whole crowd going nuts jumping up and down as well.
The energy on the packed dance floor was on par with most of the high-octane massives SoCal has to offer. Besides having to wait 30 minutes to get a drink in the downstairs bar, the dance floor was the place to be. By the time Angello came on around 1:00 am the crowd still had another highly-anticipated three hours of pure raging, hard-hitting dance music ahead. Steve opened with Swedish House Mafia's “Greyhound” and made the Palladium go absolute bonkers.
A fog of CO2 filled the room after every epic drop the crowd screamed with excitement jumping up and down in delight. The LED wall was finally turned on to display all the crazy visuals and confetti sprayed everywhere in typical Swedish House Mafia fashion. Of course, Angello showed some love to his Mafia buddies, spinning Sebastian Ingrosso & Alesso's epic track “Calling” alongside remixes of Coldplay's “Paradise” and The Temper Trap's “Sweet Disposition.” It was the perfect mix of vocals and hard-hitting house beats. At one point he even made everyone get down on the floor until the drop hit.
Wearing a backwards LA hat, Angello shared his love for Los Angeles with us over the microphone and for some reason seemed very genuine with his appreciation for LA fans even sharing that he lives here now.
He made sure he closed out the Palladium with a bang playing his biggest hits including a mash-up of his track “Knas” and “The Moment” by Tim Mason and spliced his glossy anthem “Leave The World Behind” with Nari and Milani's “Atom.” It was pure madness up to 4:00am and once again Insomniac and the Size Matters crew managed to give us a show unlike anything else we are used to. Not just your typical club event, but an actual show with amazing production that makes us wish next month's Electric Daisy Carnival, held June 8-10, would come sooner.
Personal Bias: I absolutely love Swedish House Mafia, so getting to see Steve Angello just a couple weeks after Coachella was like having extra cherries on your ice cream sundae.
The Crowd: Very awesome crowd full of plur vibes and people that love to go bananas and shuffle across the dance floor including a raging party panda in the front middle.
Overheard in the Crowd: “That was just a pre-party, up next Electric Daisy Carnival! Woo!”
Random Notebook Dump: After 2:00 am he played a good mix of tech house including Trent Cantrelle's “Freak” that got me so sweaty and disheveled from dancing so much I was about ready to take my clothes off. Seriously.
